Associated PressAndre Miller and the Blazers had plenty to smile about Monday.

The most eye-popping sight at the Rose Garden on Monday came with five seconds left in the Blazers' game against the Bulls.

Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge stepped to the free throw line for the first of two attempts, and made it. Suddenly, point guard Andre Miller started waving his arms up and down wildly, extolling the crowd to cheer.

The gesture is utterly out of character for the normally low-key Miller, but he didn't really have to do it as the crowd already was cheering wildly. Heck, the cheering had already started moments earlier when Chicago's Taj Gibson fouled Aldiridge to stop the clock.

Fans, who might have otherwise groaned a little at the foul, knew that Aldridge had scored 40 points, tying his career-high set six days earlier in the same building, and that a made free throw would top it.

Say this for Blazers fans: They know their team.

And they certainly enjoyed the Blazers' 109-103 victory and Aldridge's 42 points (yup, he made both), not to mention Miller's 27 points and 11 assists.

Monday was another eventful night at the Rose Garden, and it went again beyond the game. Let's sweep up the leftovers from the notebook and also see what others are writing:

•Anyone else notice that the Blazers did not do the 3Goggles gesture Monday? Granted, the team only made two three-pointers, but both were by frequent 3Goggles flasher Rudy Fernandez, and he did not make the gesture either time.

Wonder if someone told the Blazers to not use the gesture until they get their three-point percentage up a bit -- they entered last night's game ranked 25th in the NBA at 33.8 percent. Or maybe the players want a cut of the merchandising.

• Monday's other big news is the return of Brandon Roy, who tells the O's Jason Quick that he plans to play before the All-Star break, perhaps as soon as Friday's game at Toronto.

This, of course, will cause all kinds of debate. The bottom line, though, is if he's ready to play, he should play. He says he will come off bench, and the Blazers badly need scoring off the bench. Why not from a guy they are already paying?

But, we got word around 6 p.m. that Cunningham had been upgraded to probable status.

Alas, coach Nate McMillan chose not to play Cunningham, so we never got to see his mask in action.

• Not sure how this affected the outcome, but the Bulls also were short-handed, with center Joakim Noah out since Dec. 15 after having hand surgery. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game that Noah is very close to returning and could play right after the All-Star break.

• Speaking of Thibodeau, he was very unhappy with his team's defense against the Blazers, although he did have complimentary things to say about Aldridge and Miller. • The Bulls' arrival also brought veteran sportswriter Sam Smith, who covered all of the Michael Jordan teams and now works for Bulls.com. As we all know, Aldridge was not picked for the All-Star Game by coaches and also was passed over by commissioner David Stern, who took Minnesota's Kevin Love as an injury replacement.

"I've mentioned it before, but it's pretty amazing Love is an All Star
over Aldridge as Love doesn't have a fraction of Aldridge's game"

In his blog, Smith quotes veteran Kurt Thomas, who guarded Aldridge much of the game, as saying, "Not to take anything away from Love, but I am partial to Aldridge."

• Love had a nice game himself Monday, getting 27 points and 17 rebounds for his 37th consecutive double-double, and this one came in a win -- 104-92 at New Orleans. The Blazers play both these teams next week, at Minnesota on Monday, and at home against the Hornets on Wednesday.

• Aldridge moved to the front of the line, past Steve Nash and Zach Randolph, as the next Western Conference All-Star replacement in case of another injury or trade, ESPN's John Hollinger writes.

• A view from Chicago comes from the Tribune's K.C. Johnson, who points out in his game story that the Bulls traded Aldridge away on draft day in 2006, and pursued Fernandez this past off-season.

Fernandez played his third consecutive strong game, scoring 18 points to follow games of 19 and 17 points.

• The Blazers are taking today off, then return to practice Wednesday before going on another three-game trip.